CORONA: Assault on boy ‘grand finale,’ document says

Before a 13-year-old boy was tied to a chair and sprayed with mace last March, authorities said, one of the men accused of being the boy’s captor texted Corona pastor Lonny Remmers: “It’s time for the grand finale.”

The transcript of what are purported to be text messages between Nicholas Craig and Remmers discussing punishment for the boy are contained in a court document filed by the Riverside County district attorney’s office.

The filing opposes a motion by the attorneys for Remmers, Craig and Darryll Jeter Jr. to overturn a judge’s order that the three men must stand trial.

The motion is scheduled to be heard Wednesday, Jan. 23, in Superior Court in Riverside. Remmers, head of the Heart of Worship Community Church, and two of his congregants are accused of kidnapping and inflicting corporal injury on a minor, among other charges. The defendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The case began when the boy’s mother, one of approximately 20 church members, told Remmers that her son needed to be straightened out after the boy raped his sister.

Authorities say Remmers directed stepson Craig and Jeter to drive the boy to the desert near Barstow, where the boy was ordered to dig a “grave.” The boy told Corona police that the men pushed him back down when he tried to climb out of the hole.

The boy was returned to Corona, where he was assaulted at a church men’s home, court documents say. Later, the boy was brought to a Bible study at Remmers’ house, where Remmers pinched the boy’s left nipple with pliers, authorities say.

The text messages were supposedly sent between 12:19 a.m. and 1:26 p.m. on March 19.

The messages were downloaded from iChat logs from phones, Deputy District Attorney Melissa Moore wrote in her filing. Remmers’ co-counsel, R. Gary Seamans, wrote in his motion that prosecutors could not prove that Remmers possessed the phone when the messages were sent.

Moore gave this account of the texts, starting with message from Remmers.

“I’m up. Keep me informed,” the pastor wrote.

Craig: “Absolutely. I’m in desert now.”

Remmers: “How’s he (the boy) doing?”

Craig: “Just getting to exit. He’s defiant.”

Remmers: “Does he have any idea (what is about to happen)?”

Craig: “He does now.”

As the action is going on in the desert, a message from Remmers’ phone said: “Did you put him in the grave? Make the point clear. Next time it won’t be a scared straight moment!!!”

Later, Craig sent a message: “I’m a twisted individual at the core.”

Remmers: “That’s why I said be careful. I know what you’re capable of. Especially without Jesus.”

The boy was brought to the group home in Corona in the morning. At noon, Craig sent a text to Remmers: “It’s time for the grand finale. After this I promise he will never touch anyone again.”

After that, the boy said, he was placed into a chair in the bathroom, his hands and arms were zip-tied to the arms and feet of the chair, and he was sprayed with mace. The boy thrashed his head from side to side, spraying blood about the bathroom.

Seamans argued in his motion there was not enough evidence against the three men to make them stand trial.

One of his contentions was that as a result of the boy’s mother handing him over to Remmers for discipline, “Remmers was cast in the role of loco parentis, in the place of a parent, under which he assumed parental rights, duties and obligations without going through the formalities.”

Seamans said kidnapping was not proved at the preliminary hearing because there was no evidence that Remmers used physical force or deception to move the boy.

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